Images

Most of us have a lot of "friends" on Facebook.  I have friends on there that I see on a regular basis.  I'm "friends" with people that I went to school with, in fact most of my graduating class is on my Facebook.  I have a lot of family on there.  I have people that I've never met or even really conversed with, but have on there for more of a networking purpose.  Which is fine, I think.  I don't mind seeing everyone's status updates.

Until their status updates aren't their own.  Chances are you know what I'm talking about, but just for a few examples here you go:

"WARNING WARNING...DO NOT OPEN DO NOT OPEN..... REMOVE THE feed posts "see who's viewing your profile" its a virus spreading like wild fire....do not click on it just remove it from your walls. Face book has been posting all day for people to stop opening this app PLEASE REPORT THIS APP TO Facebook. PLEASE FOLKS PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!.."

"There are the normal ( . )( . ), the silicone ( + )( + ), the perfect (o)(o) Some are cold (^)(^) and some belong to grandmothers \./\./ And let’s not forget the very large (o Y o), the very small (.)(.) and the asymmetrical (•)(.)
We love them all!
Post this message on your wall and say ┌П┐(◉_◉)┌П┐ to breast cancer!!"

"I'M A HANDFUL! ..Unfortunately most women won't re-post this. I'm a handful, I'm strong willed, independent, a bit outspoken and I tell it like it is. I make mistakes, I am sometimes out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst then you sure as heck don't deserve me at my best. If you're a handful re-post this.. I dare you. I'll be looking for the ladies who re-post!"

You know, I don't mind seeing one of these every now and then.  Heck, even I've posted maybe three or four of these in the years that I've been on Facebook.  Apparently though, I have a few people on my friends list that post one of these at least once a day, and usually they don't post other things.  If I have you on my friends list, it's because I want to know what YOU are thinking.  Not what a million other people think is "cool".  Not to mention the fact that a status update does nothing to stop breast cancer.  If you really wanted to end breast cancer, you'd donate your money or time.  

Really though, this is about the fact that I don't want people on my friends list who can't think for themselves on a regular basis.  Sure, if you see one of these and think, "Oh, that's nice, I think that too!  Maybe I'll post it." then great!  Post it!  But not everyday.  I don't want to see a bunch of these every time I log into Facebook.  I want to see what is happening with my friends lives, how their families are doing.  I really don't see the point of having people on my friends list who post these constantly, because I'm not finding out what's going on in their life.

In response to seeing about 8 of these yesterday, 3 of which from the same person, I posted this:

"You know, sometimes it's okay to post a status that you thought up yourself. You don't have to copy and paste everybody else's statuses. I'm seriously going to start de-friending people soon, it's freaking annoying! If you're on my friends list, it's because I want to know what's going on with you. I don't think I want mindless sheep for friends."

And you know, maybe I wouldn't go so far as to de-friend someone.  I would change it so they don't show up in my news feed.  I don't really want to do that, though.  I want to be able to see the things that my friends post about their lives, because I have a genuine interest in them.

As annoying as this is, it's more than that.  Facebook is a great tool, if we want to use it as such, to see what we truly think about ourselves, our friends and our lives.  If you post a lot of these statuses, what does this say for your ability to think freely?  If you look back on your statuses, and you can go back quite a ways, what have you most often posted about?  Is it what you think is important in your life, things you want your friends to know?  Or is it often "Hey, look at this YouTube video!".  Which I've posted on occasion too.  In looking at this, maybe we can look at other areas of our lives and see whether we are seen as leaders or followers.  While you shouldn't worry about what the world thinks of you, you do have an image that you portray to the world.  What is your image?  Is it the image you want people to see?  It doesn't matter what is thought about your image, as long as you are the image of who you want to be. 

Goddess Bless,

Stacy